Dear African Man,

This is a letter long-awaited. I know I have been distant; out of reach. My mind was fed by many, you African Man were the last thing on my mind. See they told me your story. They told me who you are. For a long time I viewed you as they said you were.

SEXIST: They told me that you were a “my way or the high way” kind of man. They told me that you were a man of cultural roots that dictated your stand as superior, and me just a helper.

BRUTAL: See, in the pictures they gave, you African Man were not safe to be around. You could not stand the sight of my kind. They constantly fed me these pictures that you were not “tender”, “love” you would not “care” when we were together, for you were just a man rooted deep in your ideologies of family. A family you would bring and affiliate with not.

STUPID: African Man, they told me you were stupid. That you were born of, made of and been of no cerebral. They said you were not scholarly but were suited at using your muscles. They fed my mind African Man.

BLACK:They told me that you were black. That you were bred of a dark continent African man. That you were too dark to hold, too dark to dream of. They said you would drive me into darkness for you are a painted man.

They fed my brain. They told me what you were, they told me who you were; but they forgot to switch my mind with amnesiac, and despite their stories, I know you African Man. I remember you. I knew you even before they discovered you. They name you sexist, but I know you are a man with interest in my stories. You raise my flag and guide your family to sing my song. They say you are brutal, but I know you. You build a generation of respect and self-awareness, and you are a well meaning person. They call you stupid, but you African Man have the brightest of minds known to mankind. They label you black, yet black is no colour you resonate with for I know you are not black. You are an African man.

I know they told you my story too. They fed your brain with who they say I am, but like I remember you, I hope you still remember me too.

I take this moment, to appreciate you African man, for who you really are. You are not what they label you; you are not what the world says you are. You are who you are. My African man!

With much appreciation,

African Woman.

)